Electronic equipment often require extra cooling to transfer and dissipate the heat generated by the various components such as microprocessors. One commonly used mechanism for removing heat from a product such as a computer is a motor-driven fan in conjunction with a heatsink.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are front and side views respectively of an exemplary conventional heat removal system 100. Typically, heat generated by semiconductor device 110 is transferred via conduction to a heatsink 120 comprising a plurality of fins, typically shown as 125, that in turn dissipate the heat via convection. A fan 130 mounted on the heatsink 120 draws ambient air, depicted by arrow 140, into itself. The outflow air, depicted by arrow 145, from fan 130 generates forced air convection at the heatsink fins 125, thus conveying the heat away from heatsink 120.
One problem with system 100 is that some of the outflow air 145 does not traverse the entire length of fins 125 and instead passes out of the side of heatsink 120 at region 146. As a result, only a fraction of the available outflow air 145 passes over heatsink fins 125 and cooling efficiency is reduced.
Thus there is a need for a heat dissipation system which removes heat from a heatsource more efficiently. These needs are met by embodiments of the present invention.